The Caterham F1 Team is now in the hands of its administrators, and with the deadline for departing to the United States Grand Prix less than twenty-four hours away, the team are struggling to reach an agreement that will enable Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson to race.
After the back-and-forward claim and counter-claims between Swiss investors Engavest and Tony Fernandes during the past few days, a last minute effort to save the team was made on Friday, with administrators Smith & Williams now in control of the team.
“Following a request of yesterday evening at 21.55hrs CET from Caterham Sports Limited’s administrators and the legal advisors of Mr Tony Fernandes’ related EXIM Bank, representatives of 1MRT/Caterham F1 Team have agreed, with all rights reserved, to hand-over management of the Caterham F1 Team to the administrator Mr Finbarr O’Connell in the higher interest of allowing the team to continue operating and preparing for the next events,” said the latest Caterham statement.
The administrator assigned to the Caterham F1 Team, Mr Finbarr O’Connell, has made it clear that he would want the team to race but it will require the team to provide an acceptable proposal, something that has not been forthcoming so far.
“We had a meeting and the offer they made was unacceptable,” said O’Connell after meeting the team on Wednesday. “So I have sent them away. Hopefully they can come up with an acceptable proposal. I don’t think this is gone. It’s just a case of who has got the money to make it work.”
Despite the control of the team moving to the administrators, team members have still been unable to access the teams’ Leafield premises, and with the deadline looming, the chances of Caterham appearing at Austin is becoming more unlikely by the hour.
